Folding high chairs



Feb. 14, 1961 J. VANDER BUSH FOLDING HIGH CHAIRS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1957 INVNTOR. Ja /spy l m/am (1 H y Genes ll. l/n/vase Bus/v.

' BY HDMINZj-X/ Feb. 14, 1961 VANDER BUSH 2,971,570

, FOLDING HIGH CHAIRS Filed March 25, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/OSEPH MNDEE B USH 5y 6/9465 A. I/mvnE/a Bus/4 BY flew/N Feb. 14, 1961 J. VANDER BUSH 2,971,570

FOLDING HIGH CHAIRS Filed March 25, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N V EN TOR. L/OSEPH VA/VDAEE Bus/1 United States Patent F ()LDING HIGH CHAIRS Joseph Vander Bush, deceased, late of 518 S. Daisy St.,

Santa Ana, Calif., by Grace A. Vander Bush, administratrix, of Santa Ana, Calif.

Filed Mar. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 648,037

2 Claims. (Cl. 155-148) This invention relates to folding chairs, and more particularly to a chair for infants, it being an object of the invention to provide a chair adjustable to various positions of use and also compactly foldable when not in use, for transportation and storage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a chair all parts of which fold in relation to the chair seat, the legs telescoping and folding under the seat, the back,

arm-rests, and tray folding on top of the seat, and the foot-rest folding against the front edge 'of the seat, so that all these parts which are of metal form a protecting casing, when so folded, to the padding of the seat and back, and the resultant compact package may be picked up and transported with a minimum risk of damage.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for holding the back of the chair in either erect or folded position in such rigid and supported manner that the back is firmly posited, thus avoiding the awkward and floppy structure which has long made folding chairs the butt of comedians.

A more general object of the invention is to provide a folding high chair which is sturdy in construction, attractive in appearance, and economical in cost of manufacture. Further objects and useful advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following specification proceeds, particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrative of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention in which:

Fig. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a folding high chair, according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a simil r view, showing the chair with legs partly telescoped and with the tray removed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the chair folded for transportation or storage and viewed from the upper side;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view, the legs being partly telescoped;

' Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the folded chair, viewed from the bottom side;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view on the scale of Fig. 5, partly in section and with some parts broken away, showing in broken line how the chair is folded;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 6, showing an extended and unfolded chair leg in relation to the chair seat;

Fig. 8 is a further enlarged sectional detail showing fastening means for a removable tray; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 6, showing the pivot and snap-fastening of the chair back.

Having reference now to the details of the drawing, there is shown in Fig. l a chair having a seat 11, a back 12, and arm rests 13 on which is a tray 14. At the sides of the seat 11 and near the rear edge thereof are brackets 15, upstanding from the seat and provided with pivot pins 16 upon which the frame 17 of the back 12 pivots. The end portions 18 of the frame 17 extend below the pivot pins 16 and are provided with spring-urged ball fasteners 19 which snap into sockets 20 in the lower part of the brackets 15. Thus, it will be seen, the back 12 is self-supporting in the erected position, at least to the degree alforded by the strength of the ball fasteners 19.

The back 12 is not, however, entirely dependent on the ball-fasteners 19 when in erect position, but is held erect by the arm rests 13 which are connected thereto by pivot pins 21 set in brackets 22 which extend forwardly from the frame 17. The forward ends 23 of the arm rests 13 are linked to the seat 11 by folding braces 24, pivoted to the arm rests 13 at 25 and to the seat 11 at 26 and adapted to lock when extended by suitable mechanism such as to be found on folding card-table leg-braces. The rearward ends of the arm rests 13, rearwardly of the pivot pins 21, are bent upwardly as at 27 and connected by a web 28 which makes contact with the rearward face of the back frame 17 at a position elevated above the arm rests 13.

It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2 that the links or folding braces 24 slope slightly rearwardly when the back 12 is in erected position. Then it will be apparent that any further rearward movement of the back 12 and arm rests 13 would necessitate increasing the obtuseness of the already obtuse angle between the arm rests 13 and the folding braces 2 and would cause the forward ends 23 of the arm rests 13 to move downwardly relatively to the rearward ends 27. Such relative downward movement would cause the web 28 to move upwardly and forwardly, because as the back 12 pivots upon the pivot pins 16, the forwardly offset pivot pins 21 would be raised rather than lowered. But, the web 28 can not move upwardly and forwardly at the same time that the back 12 swings rearwardly, the web being already in contact with the back. impossible for the arm rests 13 and folding braces 24 to swing rearwardly beyond a limiting position in which the web 28 supports the frame 17 of the back 12.

The erected position of the back 12 is therefore governed by engagement of the ball fasteners 19 with the sockets 2 9, with respect to forward tilting, and by engagement of the web 28 with the rearward surface of the frame 17, with respect to rearward tilting.

The tray 14 is removably attached to the arm rests 13. This is preferably accomplished as illustrated in F5". 8, in which is shown one of the arm rests 13 with one of a plurality of holes 36 in its lower part (see also Fig. 6). The tray 14 has attached to it a finger 31, pivoted on pin 32, and actuated by spring 33 to maintain pin 34 in one or another of the holes 39. Pressure upon the finger 30 at 35 removes the pin 34 from the hole 30 and permits the tray 14- to slide on the arm rests 13 or to be removed therefrom by sliding to the end of the arm rests.

At the front of the seat 11 is an adjustable foot rest 40. As seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the foot rest 46 is in full downward extended position; in Fig. 6, it is shown partly elevated and shortened. The seat It has, below its cushion, a metal frame 41, to which the above-mentioned folding braces 24 and brackets 15 are attached, and this frame 41 has slots 42 to receive curved arms 43 of the foot rest 49. The arms 43 have notches 44 along their undersides, which engage the bottom' margins of the slots 42 and hold the arms 43 at selected degrees of extension. The ends 45 of the arms 43 come into contact with the lower surface of the frame 41, giving to the whole foot rest the construction of an extensible and retractible cantilever.

The chair is supported on foldable and telescopically extensible forward legs 50 and rear legs 51. The structure of both sets of legs follows a principle which will be best understood from Fig. 7, in which is shown the right forward leg 59 as seen from the rear from under the chair. Secured to the forward cross-piece of the frame 41 of the seat 11 is a bracket 52 having two Therefore, it is alike in structure.

rearwardly extending arms 53 and 54. The bracket 52 is set at an angle to the horizontal, the outer arm 53 being slightly elevated above the inner arm 54. The upper telescopic portion 55 (receiving) of the leg 50 is pivotally secured to the arm 53, and a web portion 56 which is secured to the telescopic portion 55 is pivotally secured to the arm 54. Because of the difference in elevation of the arms 53 and 54, the leg 50 lies substantially parallel to the side margin on the seat 11 when folded, but slopes outwardly beyond the side of the seat 11 when extended. A folding brace 57 also permits the leg 50 to slope forwardly from the seat 11 when extended. The brace 57 is secured at one end to a bracket 58 on the web portion 56, and at its other end to an ear 59 punched from a cross-member 60 of the frame 41.

The other forward leg 50 is secured and pivoted to the frame 41 in a similar manner. The rear legs 51 also have the same structure, with the sole difference that the brackets 61, corresponding to the brackets 52, are set further apart than the brackets 52, and the folding braces 62, corresponding to the folding braces 57, are secured to the cross-member 60 by cars 63 further apart than the cars 59. This slight difference in structure permits the front legs 50 to fold inside and under the rear legs 51, the latter being substantially flush with the edge of the seat frame 41.

The telescopic extensions 64 of all the chair legs are The extensions 64 slide freely outwardly until their heads 65 reach constructions 66 in the portion 55, which prevent further outward movement. Just above the constructions 66 are holes 67 in the legs 50 and 51, and into these holes extend fingers 68, when not obstructed by the extensions 64. The fingers 68 are pivoted on pins 69 Secured to the webs 56, and are urged to enter the holes 67 by springs 70. It will be obvious that when the extensions 64 have been drawn out so that their heads 65 are below the holes 67, the fingers 68 will enter the holes and keep the extensions 64 in extended positions until pressure is applied to the base 71 of the fingers.

It will be apparent that the chair legs have three useful positions. They may be folded under the seat, in which case the chair may be placed upon a larger chair, a sofa, or an automobile seat. Ordinarily the frame 41 of the seat might cut into or otherwise mark the upholstery upon which it was placed, but the broad webs of the overlying pair of legs will be substantially in the same plane and will support a large portion of the weight. In the second position the legs are unfolded but not telescopically extended. In the third position, the legs are extended to make a true high chair. In this position, due to the inclination of the brackets 52 and 61, the legs spread apart to form a safe and stable base for the chair, suitable for an infant.

Various modifications with the scope of the appended claims will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is not intended that this specification and the accompanying drawings shall be limiting, the spirit and scope of the invention being set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A folding high chair for infants comprising a seat frame, brackets rigidly secured to side margins of said seat frame adjacent the rear thereof and upstanding therefrom, pivot means on the upper portions of said brackets, a back frame and a back integral therewith pivoted on said pivot means for movement between a position parallel to said seat frame and an erect position, said back frame having portions extending downwardly beyond said pivot means, latching means in said portions engaging with said brackets to hold said back frame erect, arm rests at the sides of said seat secured pivotally to side members of said back frame and extending forwardly therefrom, links pivotally connecting the forward ends of said arm rests to said seat, and a web connecting the rearward ends of said arm rests rearwardly of said back frame at a level above said arm rests, said web being in contact with said back frame when said latching means are engaged with said brackets.

2. A folding high chair for infants comprising a seat frame, arm rests at the sides of said seat frame, bnaces connecting the forward ends of said arm rests to said seat frame, a back frame pivotally connected to said seat frame, pivot means connecting the rearward portions of said arm rests to said back frame, a web connecting said rearward portions of said arm rests rearwardly of said back frame at a level above. said arm rests, said back frame when erect being in contact with said Web, said braces then inclining rearwardly and said arm rests then being substantially parallel to said seat, whereby rearward swinging of said back rest from an erect position is prevented by a downward swinging of the forward ends of said arm rests and an upward swinging of said Web against said back frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 949,421 Francis Feb. 15, 1910 1,618,220 Orr Feb. 22, 1927 2,152,014 Ashe et al Mar. 28, 1939 2,587,176 Larson Feb. 26 1952 2,589,372 Hake Mar. 18, 1952 2,699,817 Adler Jan. 18, 1955 2,713,891 Linquist July 26, 1955 2,724,430 Garner Nov. 22, 1955 2,729,276 Volney Jan. 3, 1956 2,731,072 Post Jan. 17, 1956 2,738,833 Erskine Mar. 20, 1956 

